Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

O Quarto de Giovanni by James Baldwin, Paulo Henriques Britto

155 reviews

kendal_reads's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia

billie_visible's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Miscarriage

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

raeviews's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Astounding. James Baldwin is a true master. His writing style is simple and elegant, and his characters feel real. This book's discussion of masculinity, family, and cultural conflict is profound. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Murder and Abandonment

im_eebee's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

Beautifully written, but I hate the main character with a burning passion. I need him to get over himself yesterday. All he does is hurt people. I don’t like books where the main character is so deeply unaware of how their actions affect others. Some people will find that as the highlight of this book, but I find it frustrating to read. I’ll definitely check out Baldwin’s other work because the writing style was the only part of this that I liked, but this was a miss for me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Outing, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

calicos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence and Miscarriage

ciaramarie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Homophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Misogyny and Death

kristina_in_space's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don’t know how to review this book. I gave it 4 stars by default. I didn’t really enjoy reading it, but does that make it a bad book? The characters aren’t likable, the settings are terrible, the actions of the characters are almost always wrong, but that’s the story. And Baldwin writes it with such melancholy beauty. I can picture it all, for better or worse. And the narration on the audiobook kept me entranced. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

florih's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The only reason this is not a 5🌟 for me is the obvious misogyny and sexism of the main character (alongside his internalised homophobia, which is the point of the plot)... to be fair he is absolutely despicable as a character. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Sexism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny

sohva's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beautiful, still makes me think of what it is wanting to say about love, life and home.

My only gripe woth this book was that the female characters were a bit... weird.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship